Schumer proposes bill to regulate body armor

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said Sunday he intends to introduce a bill restricting the sale of body armor when the Senate reconvenes in September, according to the New York Post.

The bill would require the FBI to establish standards for who is allowed to buy body armor such as bullet-resistant vests after a series of mass shootings in which the gunmen wore body armor, most recently the suspect in the killing of nine people last weekend in Dayton, Ohio.

Schumer’s proposal would include exceptions for police and other public safety officials, according to the AP.

“The ease with which those intent on doing evil are able to get advanced body armor is shocking,” Schumer tweeted Sunday afternoon. “In addition to the House-passed background checks bill, it’s time to require anyone seeking sophisticated body armor to get sign-off from the FBI.”

The ease with which those intent on doing evil are able to get advanced body armor is shocking.

In addition to the House-passed background checks bill, it’s time to require anyone seeking sophisticated body armor to get sign-off from the FBI. https://t.co/uK9edb4T9Y

— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) August 11, 2019

“What we have learned is that a good number of those intent on mass shootings buy body armor,” Schumer said, according to the Post. “They want to kill as many people as possible.”

Anyone without a criminal conviction can currently obtain a bulletproof vest in all 50 states, with only Connecticut requiring that they be bought in person. Wearing one during the commission of a crime is a separate offense in most states, including New York, where it is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison.

In the meantime, however, Schumer said he would push for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) to allow a House-passed universal background checks measure to get a full Senate vote, calling it “the most important and immediate thing we can do.”

“It would pass, in my judgment,” he added, according to the Post.